FORBIDDEN LOVE Book Launch Party!

We're kicking off our FORBIDDEN LOVE  Book Launch Party with an interview and special giveaway by author Kaye Manro!

SFRB: Kaye, you received some very exciting news on Thursday. Your SFR novella, Forbidden Love, released a week early! You must be thrilled. So first of all...BIG CONGRATS! Tell us where we can find Forbidden Love.

KM: Thanks Laurie and everyone here at SFRB! Forbidden Love released May 13 at Red Rose Publishing and you can find it by visiting the Red Rose bookstore HERE.  Or on my Blog and my Website or just about everywhere I am these days!

SFRB: When did you get the good news and tell us what went through your mind?

KM: Okay-- As authors, we often have to deal with the unexpected. I had no idea Forbidden Love was on the Red Rose buy page until I woke up Thursday morning and opened my email. A note from my editor said, "…Forbidden Love released today. You’ve been pushed up a week.” The first thing I did was jump up and down squealing, OMG! But it didn’t take long to settle into the reality of it. My book is out -- Today! Get busy! Blog posts, contact others, lots of things to do. We adjust, we adapt. We are authors. It turned out to be a very good thing because now Forbidden Love is on the RRP top bestseller list, which encompasses all books, from short stories to novels and not just SFR.

SFRB: Like all proactive authors, I know you had a big promotion plan all laid out for Forbidden Love. Can you explain your original plan and what tweaks you'll make to take advantage of the early release date?

KM: After considering it, I decided to stick to the main plan I had originally but with modifications. That is for me, mostly a virtual blog tour. I also have a few live events where I will promote Forbidden Love with bookmarks, etc. Since it is an e-book, it is different from having an actual print book in your hands. (I’ll talk more about e-publishing at a later time) I moved up some of my tour dates, added a few more and such. I did quite a bit of promoting before this release. It is important to promote even before you sign a contract. I’ve had a blog for a while and a website too. Though the SFR pages are new. Promoting is very related to selling your product—which is books, whether it is an e-book or a print book, a short novella or a long novel.

SFRB: Tell us a little about Forbidden Love. What in your opinion makes it stand out or sets it apart from other SFR novels?

KM: FL is kind of a sexy read. Basically, there are no wars waging. There is a tense escape moment when the spacecraft loses all power and the military surround T’Kon and Maya as they hide inside the craft. There are lots of lovely sensual interactions between T’Kon and Maya, who are from very different evolutionary paths.

SFRB: What length is Forbidden Love? Does the story move at comet speed or does it take more time to build tension or conflict between the characters?

KM: Forbidden Love is a short novella and a fast read. No slow build up here. Though I really like to build the tension and conflict between characters, there is much less time for this in a short work of fiction. T’Kon and Maya are immensely attracted to each other from the beginning. And FL is a comet ride from the word go.

SFRB: Other than Science Fiction Romance, what other major element does the story contain? Suspense? Intrigue? Humor? Fascinating relationship or social situations? World building? Imaginative technology?

KM: Since this is a short novella of about 62 pages, concentrating on how the characters relate to each other is a vital point. You have to write tight in order to pull it off. There is not a lot of room to develop intense long plots and such. Still there is a touch of several of these elements in FL. One important aspect is the archaic laws to which T’Kon’s culture adheres that prohibits interspecies mating. And well, Maya throws his neat little culture rules into a real sexy loop! Yes, there is a bit of intrigue. If you are an alien and crash your spacecraft on a perceived hostile planet, that does cause tension!

SFRB: Do you have a favorite line from the story you'd like to share?

KM: Some of my favorite lines are when T’Kon is trying to communicate with Maya for the first time. He is telepathic and she isn’t, so he touches her and his thoughts tumble into her mind. Kind of like a mind link. He’s trying to get her to show him where he crashed. He’s very demanding and she doesn’t like it.
(He communes) “You will take me there.” (She shoots back) “Yeah, right.”
…his icy gaze narrowed on her as clawed fingers grasped a firm hold around her wrist. He emphasized one word. “Now.”

SFRB: When or where did you come up with the idea that sparked Forbidden Love? How long did it take you to write it? Are there any anecdotes connected with the story you'd like to relate?

KM: Forbidden Love came about as an experiment in writing erotic SFR and I wrote the first draft in a couple of weeks. The original version of FL was actually for a contest that never materialized. So the story went back on the shelf. Here a little inside info—while I worked at creating this erotic SFR, it fondly became known as ‘Lizard Love” or “My Lizard Lover” (my actual working title) by my critique partners –who still call it that-- because my hero, T’Kon has Reptilian DNA. A few friends still call the FL hero, that cheeky lizard. They would joke about sex in space and such, since none of them wrote erotic at that time. But when an editor asked me if I had written any erotic sci-fi and would I submit it, they stopped joking and started helping me whip what is now Forbidden Love into shape.

SFRB: Now for the really fun part! You're doing a Forbidden Love book giveaway and other prizes for those who comment on your blog tour. Tell us what cool goodies are awaiting (lucky, lucky, lucky) random participants in your Book Launch Party.

KM: For our SFRB launch party I have a very special secret surprise gift from my Star Trek collection, and a downloadable copy of Forbidden Love. Also, (depending on how many participants we have) I will part with one of my all time favorite books, How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card.

SFRB: Thanks so much, Kaye. In closing, can you share an excerpt from Forbidden Love with us?

KM: Sure-- This is my favorite excerpt and I’d like to share it here with my fellow SFRB authors and readers:

Excerpt:

...She was upon him so near he could feel her breath, sense her warmth. She reached out and ran a hand through the air, searching the length of him.

“Maya,” he blew her name on a sigh.

“Take me with you," she implored, as water filled her astounding tawny eyes. "I want to be with you, T'Kon.” She melded her body against his invisible one.

“You know nothing of me or my world.”

“Teach me, show me everything.”

He felt her heat burning inside him, yet the absurdity of her request burned brighter. “What you ask is not possible.”

“Will you please become visible so I can look at you?” She asked. “We need to talk about this before you go flying off into the universe.”

He unshielded his body so she could see him. “I cannot take you.”

“Why not? You can’t say it was coincidence that you happened to crash land in my back yard.”

No, an unfortunate accident. The truthful certainty traced across his mind. Yet his arms enclosed her and he lifted her up. Her legs straddled his waist, and he held her close against his body. A fit so right he could not deny it.

“I wish it were not so, but it is,” he whispered, breathing in her pungent scent. “You would not survive on my world.” He dropped his head to taste her lips before she had a chance to counter his words. “Just one last kiss.” Her mouth opened to allow his tongue entry and he explored the soft moistness, losing himself in her tang.

The stars help him. He did not want to leave her.

Without warning, a sudden and dangerous noise yanked T’Kon from his sexual stupor He sensed peril approaching. In a rapid-fire move, he raised his palm. A copper arch flashed and shimmered before them revealing the entryway to his concealed spacecraft. He dragged her inside. Tapping a pad the opening closed leaving them hidden behind an undetectable shield...

Thanks, Kaye.  FORBIDDEN LOVE sounds like a great read! 

And now for the special Book Launch goodies!  Those who comment below from today through Tuesday will be in the running for a copy of FORBIDDEN LOVE and a surprise giveaway from Kaye's Star Trek collection. If response is good, Kaye may even throw in a bonus--a copy of Orson Scott Card's How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy.  Let the fun begin!